The Store Cupboard Key Mystery
by onmyside
Summary: How did Carson get access to the Store Cupboard Key when he steals the food for Grigg in series 01? My idea of what happened. AU / not canon.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N This is a one shot about an idea that came up on tumblr tonight. Where did Charles Carson get the key for the store cupboard from when he steals the provisions for Grigg? Usually Elsie Hughes is the master of the keys. _

_Beware: This one is not canon but head canon ;)_

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Carefully he removed her hand that rested on top of his chest like every night. She had to feel his heartbeat, feel his chest rise and fall under his breath. It reassured her, calmed her and always lulled her to sleep. He tried to slip out of the embrace quietly, without making a noise and most important without waking her up. It was not easy to move in her small bed. They had to lie almost on top of each other whenever they shared it.

Charles managed to disentangle his legs from underneath hers, pushed the covers back and slipped out of the warm bed. Elsie stirred and mumbled something incomprehensible. "I'll be back before you know that I've been away," he whispered and placed a soft kiss on her forehead before he pulled the covers back over her naked body.

Without making a noise he tiptoed over to the armchair where she had thrown her dress earlier. They must be here somewhere. She always wore them on that little clip at her waist, the chairs dangling down from it, creating that familiar jingle when she walked.

Carefully his fingers felt for the keys, lifting the fabric of her dress. But they weren't at their usual place. Charles could not remember seeing her taking them off when he came to see her tonight. And his memory also failed him as he tried to recall if they had been at her waist at all. He turned the dress over in the darkness of her room, trying once more to find the keys. After several minutes he gave up his search.

She must have taken them off earlier, before she came upstairs. Maybe they were in her sitting room in one of the drawers of her desk? Though he doubted she would put the keys there so close to Mrs. Patmore's reach.

His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and he had a look around the room. The little desk that stood in one corner was so tidy that he would have instantly noticed the keys. On the clothes rack by the door only her coats and hats were hanging. He should have asked for the key earlier but she did not know about Grigg, about his past, what a fool he had made of himself all these years ago. He would eventually tell her one day, however he had to deal with his ex-partner first and then find the time, moment and the right words to tell Elsie about his time on stage.

Maybe the key _was _in her sitting room after all. He looked around for his pyjamas and his robe and found them on the floor in front of the bed. Quickly he dressed and decided to try his luck. The floorboards creaked underneath his feet when he made his way to the door. He looked at Elsie, afraid he might have woken her up, but she was still asleep, one hand on the now empty pillow next to her head, the other underneath her cheek. He hated to leave her alone tonight but he had to get into the store cupboard without anyone noticing it, gather a few provisions and put them in an old bag. Tomorrow he would then hand them over to Grigg and hopefully see this man never again.

He opened the door inch by inch and sneaked out of her bedroom onto the dark floor. To the left was the door that led to the men's quarters with the old brass key on its hook. To the right he could just take the stairs down to the servant's hall. No one would be up at this hour so he would be safe to take the stairs. For a man of his size it was not easy to tiptoe across the floor. Inside her bedroom he knew where to tread but on the corridor every step could make an unwanted noise. Somehow he managed to get to the stairs without waking one of the housemaids. Quickly he descended them in the darkness until he came to the door to the servant's hall and kitchen.

It was ridiculous, really. Sneaking out of a woman's bedroom at night to get a pair of keys so that he could betray his employer, steal provisions for a man he despised and pretend that nothing had happened at all. Every single part of this plan was utterly wrong and he could already feel the guilt well up. He could still go back and tell her everything in the morning, ask her for her opinion and decide what to do. Still, if Grigg did not get what he had demanded he might denounce him in front of his Lordship and in front of the woman he loved. Charles turned the doorknob and descended the last flight of stairs.

ooooo

The silence felt odd. He was used to the noise, the hustle and bustle, the smell of food. What welcomed him now was the dripping of a leaky tap, the scratching of tiny mice feet somewhere behind the cupboards and the smell of cold food. There was no need to watch his step anymore. The stone floor made no noise at all. Fast he made his way towards her sitting room and opened the door. For the first time he dared to turn on the electric light. He squinted his his eyes at the yellow glow and it took a while to get used to the sudden brightness.

For a moment he just stood there, taking in her room, all the little objects on the shelves, books, delicate pieces of china, little trinkets, and figurines. Then his gaze came to rest on her desk. The books were neatly stacked on the left, pen and paper on the right. Four small drawers were hidden behind the stacks of paper and ledgers. He carefully moved away her work and opened each of the drawers. No keys.

For the second time tonight he looked around one of her rooms. There was no other place he could think of where she might hide the keys. If they were not fastened to her dress nor in one of the drawers of her desk she must store them away elsewhere. But where?

The clock on the mantelpiece chimed two in the morning and the stifled a yawn. It made no sense to look for the keys any longer. He would not find them tonight. With a deep sigh he switched off the light, closed the door behind him and made his way back upstairs.

When he crawled back under the covers her hand intuitively reached out for his chest again. She cradled her head in the crook of his neck and inhaled his scent. "Where have you been", she mumbled.

Charles stroked the back of her hand and sleepily answered "Looking for the key", before closing his eyes.

"They are in my green coat." He heard her say before he fell asleep again.

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_**A/N OKAY THIS WILL BE A TWO CHAPTER THING THEN! because it cannot end here. But I am tired now and I need to sleep. *lol***_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N HELP! This will have more than one chapter, more than two chapters!  
Thank you so much for your lovely reviews! I know this is totally AU but it's fun to write. _

_Have fun reading._

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He woke up at early dawn. It was cold in the room and he felt the goosebumbs on his arms before he realized that the cover was no longer draped around his body. The only thing that warmed him was her head that rested on his chest and a bit of the bedcover was still on top of his feet. The rest of it was on the other side of the bed, around Elsie's body. Getting it back from her was an impossible task. He would only wake her up and it was still too early to be up and about. Charles had a look at his pocket watch that lay on the bedside table. It was hard to read the hands in the dim light but as far as he could tell it was only 4:30 in the morning. They could still enjoy at least one more hour of sleep and being together.

Suddenly a thought struck him. The keys! She had said something about them before he fell asleep, if he could only remember what it was. He tried to ignore the fact that he was actually feeling cold and tried to recall the moment when he had crawled back into her bed earlier. Elsie moved her head a bit and one of her hands reached out from underneath the covers to rest on his hip while she snuggled up closer. He placed a soft kiss on top of her head, put his hand on top of hers to stroke it gently and resumed his thinking.

"You are cold," the sleepy voice startled him. He had not noticed that Elsie was awake.

"The beautiful woman next to me stole my part of the blanket I'm afraid," he whispered.

She took away her hand from his hip and tugged at the covers. He gladly accepted the offer, draped a fair share of it around his exposed chest and legs before Elsie would change her mind. "Sleep, love. We still have one more hour." Though he decided to get up in thirty minutes for a second attempt to find the store cupboard key.

Staying awake was not easy. Continuously he drifted back to sleep now that he was warm again and with her at his side. His mind was still trying to remember what Elsie had said regarding the keys. She had put them somewhere near, in her room, at an easy place to hide things but impossible for Mrs. Patmore to have access to. His gaze fell upon the clothes rack by the door and immediately her words resounded in his head. Her green coat was the answer to his question though to get there he had to take a great risk. She was much closer this time, her arm around his waist, her head still on top of his chest. Getting out of the bed without waking her up would never work. He had to find an excuse to leave her for a while.

"Don't miss me," he whispered, then lifted the bedcover and gently put her head on his pillow. This time she did not answer. All he could hear was her deep breathing. She had fallen asleep again.

Charles avoided the creaking floorboards once more on his way to her favourite coat. Swiftly he let his hand glide into the left pocket to feel for the keys. He had never thought that the cold metal his fingers touched a second later would ever make him that happy. Carefully he took the keys out and laid them on the desk. Then he put on his robe again, slid the keys into one of the pockets and made his way downstairs for the second time this night.

ooooo

He had left a large canvas bag in his pantry underneath his desk for no one except for him to see. Taking the bag out now meant that he was actually doing something he had sworn never to do again: steal. For a moment he paused to think. What was he doing? He had stolen the key to the store cupboard from Elsie in the middle of the night. In his hand he held an empty bag which he was going to fill with food soon. All of this was so wrong, so shameful, so undignified. Still he had to do it or otherwise everyone would soon know about his past, the years in dancehalls, pubs and rundown theatres.

Determined he left his pantry and made his way towards the store cupboard. The keys in his pocket jingled but he did not care. No one was up yet and there was no need to be quiet. He tried the first key but it did not match. The second one was too small. Only the third one, a large, blackened wrought iron one fitted into the lock. With a creak the door swung open and he stepped inside. Dawn was breaking now so he was able to see a bit in the faint light of the new day. Apples, a piece of old bread, some marmalade, a piece of bacon, he put everything into the bag as fast as he could when a familiar noise made him startle up. Footsteps on the stone floor and a stifled yawn came from somewhere on the corridor.

He left the bag behind, closed the door quickly and locked it again. The keys slipped into the pocket of his robe just before Daisy came around the corner, her hand covering her mouth to cover her yawning. Now it was her who startled.

"Mr. Carson. Oh I am sorry. I did not know you where already up." She hurried to grab the old bucket, brushes, some cloths and the other utensils she needed to start the fires. "Good morning." She added before she rushed off upstairs.

He looked after her until she disappeared through the door on top of the stairs. The bag would be staying inside the store cupboard until later. He could not retrieve it now. Mrs. Patmore would be downstairs any minute and he was not in a presentable state wearing only his pyjama trousers and an old robe. As fast as he could he went back upstairs and this time chose to take the stairs to the right that led to the men's sleeping quarters.

As soon as he was in his room, leaning his back against the door to catch his breath, he remembered the keys in his pocket. She would notice that they are gone and he could not just give them back to her before breakfast. The only way to get out of this unnoticed was to go back to her room, put the keys back into her coat and then wake her up.

ooooo

Charles had never had such an eventful night. He had to be back in Elsie's room before Daisy was about to wake up the housemaids and the housekeeper and he had to be out again before everyone was awake. This was getting more and more ridiculous by the minute. Still he could not risk to be humiliated by Charles Grigg. Not in front of all the people he held dear. It was the price he had to pay.

Somehow he managed to get back into her bedroom, closed the door behind him and put the keys back into the pocket of her coat. Elsie was lying on her left side, her hair spread across the pillow and the bedcovers only covering her naked body from her waist downwards. His original plan was to kiss her cheek and whisper something sweet into her ear to wake her up but now that he saw her lying there like this he could not resist the urge to lie next to her again. He took off his robe, folded it neatly and put it next to her dress then sat on the bed with his back leaning against the headboard. His hand stroked her head then wandered down over her cheek to her shoulder. He bent down and placed a kiss on the flawless skin.

She stirred in her sleep but did not open her eyes. He let his hand continue its exploration and his fingers trailed down her bare arm until he reached her hand which lay next to her breasts. Cautiously his fingers touched them. He could see how her skin reacted to his touch, forming goosebumbs all over her body. He slid down from his sitting position to lie on his right side, his head propped up on his elbow to look at her. "Elsie."

Her eyelids fluttered. "Charles?" she asked sleepily.

"We better get up before Daisy decides to wake you." One hand reached for the covers to pull them over her. "And I should be back in my room by now."

"You should be back already." She opened her eyes and looked at him. "I thought you were there already?"

"I could not let you wake up alone, could I?" he kissed her before he finally got up to leave her room for good today. On his way back he realized that he had maneuvered himself into a new problem: the bag was now inside the store cupboard and he had to get it out before anyone noticed it. But how?

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_A/N heavens Charles Carson! Just tell her that you need the key! _


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N sorry it took me SO long to update this! Work was hell, my mood was not the best and not suited for writing fluff. But I did not want this to be unfinished. So: this is the last chapter :) enjoy reading!_

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At breakfast he tried not to think about the bag inside the store cupboard, tried to calm his nerves and hoped that Elsie did not plan to check the provisions today. If she would, he had a lot of explaining to do. He could not simply invent a story of how that bag made its way into the store cupboard. That Daisy might have forgotten it there or that Mrs. Patmore was not able to finish unpacking the supplies. The cook was never neglectful when it came to food. Elsie would know that the only person that had had access to the key was him. And she would never forgive him should he tell a lie.

His gaze was fixed on the porridge in front of him. He had not taken a bite of it yet. Underneath the table he could feel how Elsie's leg brushed his knee, more than once, until she stepped on his foot to wake him up from his reverie. His head shot up abruptly to look at her and what he saw did not help him in his current state of mind. She had furrowed her brow, looked at him with a hint of worry in her eyes.

"Mr. Carson, you seem a bit absent this morning. Are you not feeling well?"He quickly scanned the faces of the other servants that sat around them at the big table. No one was paying attention to their conversation.

"Thank you for your concern, Mrs. Hughes. I am a bit tired to be honest." And anxious about a certain bag, he thought.

"Oh. Did you not get enough rest last night, then?" The worried look upon her face was replaced by a slight smile on her lips, obviously she remembered what they had done before he had left her bedroom twice last night. But not even this was able to lift his mood or solve the problem he was faced with. He let his leg fall against hers to let her know that he was still paying attention to what she had said. But apart from a small smile on his lips he did not answer her question.

Elsie slightly shook her head and her left hand reached underneath the table carefully to touch his knee, while she continued to eat her breakfast. Now this distracted him and led his thoughts away from the bag inside the cupboard.

Until Mrs. Patmore entered the kitchen a few minutes later, arms akimbo, her face read with fury. "Mrs. Hughes! Can you explain me why the door to the store cupboard was left open last night?"

Charles almost choked on the small portion of porridge he had just begun to eat. He had closed the door and locked it last night, for sure! However he had not checked it thoroughly but instead left the kitchen in a hurry. The only explanation that came to his mind was that the bolt had not slid into the lock completely, leaving the door open. Elsie's hand on top of his knee tensed up, her fingernails digging into the fabric of his trousers and through it. Her face white with anger, her lips drawn to a thin line. Before he knew what he was doing, Charles raised his voice.

"Mrs. Patmore, can we please discuss this after breakfast?"

Elsie shot him a furious glance, took her hand away from his knee and was about to stand up to face Mrs. Patmore now. Gently he put his hand on her shoulder, urging her to sit down again. Instead he stood and ushered the cook out of the servant's hall.

"Why is this a problem, Mrs. Patmore?"

The woman snorted. "I am refused to get a spare key to the store cupboard and she leaves it open over night. Always telling me that I cannot deal with the responsibilities this key involves. Whereas it is obviously _her _that cannot deal with it, not me."

He let out a small sigh. The ongoing fight for this particular key always had gotten on his nerves. Only today did it for once present to him a solution for his problem. He would suggest something he knew Elsie would not tolerate. "Can I have a look at the door?"

Mrs. Patmore crossed her arms, shrugged her shoulders and snorted, "_She _obviously does not care at ALL."

ooooo

Charles turned the knob and was surprised that the small wooden door actually opened. The bolt had not locked it, as he had already suspected. Then suddenly an idea struck him yet he was certain that Mrs. Patmore and Elsie Hughes would not buy the story he would tell them now. Especially because it would take all his persuasiveness to make it seem believable. He had never been a good liar. Keeping things secret by not telling them was easy for him, telling an outright lie had always caused his voice to crack, sweating and an inability to look his opposite straight in the eye. Maybe he would manage to deceive Mrs. Patmore but Elsie was a different matter.

"So what is it now Mr. Carson?" Mrs. Patmore kept staring at him, how he had bent down to examine the lock and bolt of the door.

He cleared his throat. "Obviously the closing mechanism is broken." His eyes he kept on the lock, turning the knob, pretending that the bolt did not budge a bit. "Mrs. Hughes is not to blame." He looked up and into a puzzled face. "We have to call for the locksmith, Mrs. Patmore. No one has maintained this door for quite some time."

He saw how the cook's expression changed. "All right. Will the store cupboard stay open then?"A smile formed on her face, bright and cheerful.

"I'm afraid so. But I am sure that we will have it fixed this afternoon at the lastest."

Her keys announced her arrival in the kitchen a mere second later. "What is it now?" The edge in her voice told him that she was still annoyed by Mrs. Patmore's accusation during breakfast.

Mrs. Patmore just turned around and grinned at the housekeeper, provoking Elsie even more. Charles straightened quickly and stepped between the two women, looking first at the cook, a scolding expression on his face, and then at Elsie.

"The bolt and lock are broken and I will have to call for the locksmith to have it repaired." He realized that his voice was not as deep as it usually was and that sweat began to form on his forehead. He tried to hold her gaze but when she exhaled deeply, letting out a suppressed sigh he had to look away, suddenly very attracted to the copper pans on the wall.

"Better send some of the hallboys now or we will never have it fixed." Now it was his turn to let out a sigh when Elsie turned around to leave the kitchen.

ooooo

It was early afternoon when he decided to ask his Lordship for permission to go to the village. Another lie told to conceal the true reason for his request. Helping a man he had once shared a life with, a life on stage, in dirty hotels and with so many lies that Charles had sworn never to get back to this again. Thirty years later he had. He stood in front of his employer whom he trusted and who had put all his trust in the butler. And he told a lie. The second in one day.

He changed quickly into his non formal attire and hoped that no one would notice how he slipped into the store cupboard. Elsie had been busy all afternoon preparing a dozen bedrooms for dinner guests that planned to stay overnight. The mood she had been in after breakfast and after her Ladyship had informed her that dinner tonight required _slight_ changes had been so awful that Charles was actually glad that Elsie was out of his way for the rest of the day. It meant no additional lies for him and time to execute his plan.

The bag was still filled with the supplies he had gathered last night. He added a few more cans, closed the lid and wanted to lift it up when a can slid out and fell onto the floor, followed by several fresh apples. He silently cursed. It was only when he tried to pick everything up again that he noticed Anna standing behind him, a teatowel in her hand, staring at him.

"His Lordship asked me to… get these… for…", he stumbled through the sentence, undignified and making a fool of himself. "… for charity."

Anna still stared at him. "He usually does not make a big deal out of this so I would appreciate it if you keep it to yourself, Anna." He managed to make his voice sound more like Charles Carson the butler and not any longer like that of a young schoolboy, having been caught at cheating.

The housemaid nodded. "I understand, Mr. Carson."

"Thank you, now if you excuse me."

ooooo

The food had not been enough. As soon as Charles had returned from the village, having run a few other errands while he was there, he was confronted with Charles Grigg again. This was his punishment for having lied to so many people in one day. People that had always thought they knew him, respected and trusted him. And now they were witnesses to his shame, his past, his darkest secret.

He kept himself busy after the revelation in the library, tried to avoid both Elsie and Anna, preparing the large dinner for tonight and thinking of nothing else than how to hide his past from Elsie. Could he keep it secret still, even though Anna, Mr. Bates and Lady Sybil knew now? A few times during the day he met her, tried to smile at her, tried to pretend everything was fine with him. She smiled back, rolled her eyes, letting him know without words how much she longed this day to be over.

Around midnight he finished locking up the house, closed the last door and switched off the last of the electric lights. An old oil lamp illuminated his way downstairs towards his pantry. He stifled a yawn and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand before he opened the door.

"I thought you had already gone to bed," he almost dropped the lamp when he heard her voice. She was sitting in his armchair, a cup of tea in front of her and an open book on her lap. Her features were softened by the yellow light from his desk lamp, making him forget how dreadful the day had been.

He closed the door, set the lamp on the table before he bent down to kiss her forehead. "It has been a long day and I must admit I am rather exhausted." Instead of sitting down on the old wooden chair in front of his desk, he took a seat on the armrest of his armchair. Elsie took this as an opportunity to lean her head against his chest and close her eyes.

"We haven't seen a lot of each other today since breakfast." She whispered.

His hand was gently stroking her hair. He too closed his eyes and listened to her breathing for a while. Should he tell her now? Should he destroy this wonderful moment? A sigh escaped him that caused her to lift her head to look at him, a questioning expression on her face. "Is something the matter? You seemed so distant all day."

To place another kiss on her forehead was all he could do at the moment. It allowed him to not have to look at her eyes and maybe he could distract her a bit, make her lean her head against his chest again.

"Charles, tell me. Something is upsetting you." It did not work. Not at all. Elsie Hughes had always been able to read his mind and knew when he withheld information from her. "Is it about the store cupboard?"

He could feel that she was still looking at him, had not averted her eyes. Charles had to face this now obviously. He could not tell another lie, make his situation even worse than it already was. "I've done something very foolish, Elsie", he started his explanation.

"The door was not broken, I suppose."

And he suddenly felt like that schoolboy again for the second time today. "Now it was not. I am sorry Elsie. I lied to you. I am sorry," he repeated, still not able to look at her.

"You took the keys out of my pocket last night, didn't you?" She did not sound offended or angry. "Charles, please, tell me what had brought this on."

He sighed a second time and finally looked at her. What he saw warmed his heart. She was smiling encouragingly, then took his hand into hers and placed a soft kiss on the back of it. "I've never told you what I did before I came to Downton." And then the story poured out of him in unfinished sentences, muttered words, his voice sometimes only a whisper. She listened patiently, held his hand, stroked it reassuringly with her thumb.

"And that is why you left me twice last night? To prepare this bag for Mr. Grigg? Charles, you could have asked me for the key, told me everything."

The love he felt for this woman right now was indescribable. "I was ashamed", his voice cracked. "And afraid you would find me ridiculous."

He felt her hands on his cheeks and let her draw his face down to meet hers. "I will never find you ridiculous." Her lips brushed his while she spoke and before she kissed him tenderly. "Never." Another kiss to seal her promise. "But please, never lie to me again."

ooooo

His bed offered them a bit more space than hers. Elsie had draped her arm around his chest and nestled her head in the crook of his neck, still exhausted from their love making minutes ago. "I might reconsider what I demanded from you earlier", she murmured sleepily.

"What was that?" His hand caressed her back.

"Lying."

"Why my love?" the other hand found its way to her chest and moved a bit higher.

"You obviously felt the need to make up for what you did last night and throughout the day: keeping something from me. And it felt very very good." Her sharp intake of breath told him that his hand had caused the desired effect on her. "It still feels very good." She tilted her head and kissed his jaw, his cheek, the corner of his mouth and finally his lips.

**THE END**


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